Oversight Committee: School Parcel Tax Revenue is Well-Managed

A citizen oversight committee said the local school district responsibly manages revenue from a $144-a-year parcel tax voters OK'd in 2009 to help schools weather the state budget crisis.

The Measure C oversight committee recently presented its annual review to the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. The committee's job is to make sure money from the seven-year tax is spent on its intended purpose – basically anything except administrator salaries.

The tax expires in 2016 and generates about $6.7 million a year for local schools, according to district spokesman Terry Koehne.

“The committee conducted a high-level review of the entire district-wide use of unrestricted funds to gain confidence that the parcel tax funds were used in an appropriate manner,” committee chairman Peter Hoefs said in a statement. “The committee is confident that parcel tax revenues are being spent appropriately and within the intended purpose.”  

Some key findings in the review:

• As enrollment grew, revenues and expenditures per student have decreased over the last three years. The report notes that local schools depend heavily on private donations. Parents and other community members donate about $12 million a year in addition to the parcel tax, the report says.
• Some $145 million of the district's expenditures and 87 percent of unrestricted funds in the 2009-10 fiscal year trended downward over the past few years, which the report said reflects "the reality of the budget crisis the district has been dealing with."
• Administrators salaries decreased signifigantly over the past few years as enrollment grew by 3,000 students, the report says.
• Money for deferred maintenance was completely axed.

The report praises the community for supporting local schools, and the district for doing more with less money.

View the Power Point presentation by clicking on the pdf attached to this article.